Our gift to you on this day 14th Nov. It was on this day that India’s First Prime Minister -Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was born. He had a very close rapport with children and they loved him dearly. To mark this occasion, we have put up a special article focusing on an important aspect in children.

Children are naturally blessed with the divine gift of forgiveness. They tend to forget and forgive easily. Many-a-times, watching this happening before our very eyes, we are amazed! It makes us adults feel embarrassingly belittled! Rejoice in the thought that your child is blessed with a heart of forgiveness!

The other day while I was observing some children playing in the nearby park, I saw two boys engaged in a squabble over an abandoned ball which they both wanted. Somehow within a few minutes, the situation escalated in a scuffle. Both mommies who were chatting nearby rushed in to intervene; they separated the boys and forbade them to play together. And guess what? Within a few minutes, I was amazed to see them both amicably talking to each other; the ball was discarded and forgotten. I am sure their moms were as surprised as I was!

This incident led me to think: How come there was not a trace of grudge or anger in these young lads? We adults take hours, days, weeks and even months to forgive our spouse, our colleagues or our friends; we vividly remember the hurt they have caused, while to these youngsters forgiveness was almost second nature.

According to a child psychologist, this innate skill in children lies in their ability to live in the present moment. It teaches us adults the importance of not carrying the excess baggage of yesterdays; nor dwell unnecessarily on the negative aspects of our past or worry about things that may never happen in the future. But do we adults take time to step back and learn this lesson?

We adults tend to believe that it is wrong to readily offer forgiveness for that would tantamount to condoning the wrong done. Indeed, we want to hold on to our hurt and anger or teach the wrong-doer a lesson. Children in all their innocence magically free themselves from these negative elements, thereby experiencing spontaneous joy and satisfaction in whatever their hearts dictate them to do. If we adults take time and interest to observe, listen and learn, our world would certainly be a better place for all of us.

Have you not noticed this spirit of resilience in your own child time and again? Haven’t you experienced the time when your child has bounced back to normalcy within a short span of time after having been punished? Perhaps, you even felt guilty for having been hard on your child; you dreaded the thought of being hated or shunned by him/her! And yet, your fears were allayed to your pleasant surprise; within the span of few minutes, your child was there for you with open arms- – -eagerly hugging and kissing you as if nothing had happened. Has this not made you wonder: What is that special spark which children have and we adults lack? Can we adults not absorb the same power of forgiveness from our children?

Yes, we can if we do not forget the significant lessons our children teach us each day. As we together go through life’s journey, let us look upon life with the same childlike wonder; let us imbibe our children’s lighthearted spirit; let us begin each day with spirits renewed, let us cultivate our minds to think positively; but most importantly, let us make every effort to develop a heart of forgiveness. By readily forgiving others, we free ourselves of the burden of carrying hurt. Only then, we could eliminate stress from the complexities of modern living.
Remember: It is indeed the innocence and purity of our children’s hearts that can teach us how to lead better, happier and more fulfilling lives.

Comments

I love this article! Food for thought. Children have a way of moving on, unlike adults who tend to wallow in self-pity, anger, or the like. If you have ever watched a small child closely without his/her awareness, they will move on from one toy to another in minutes, not because they don’t like the toy, simply because everything around them is fascinating and they want to touch and discover it all.
I love this innocence in children, and I think that in growing, it is us adults that perhaps cause unnecessary alarm when children don’t appear to get along. But children are a lot smarter than we give them credit for, and they don’t hold grudges (at least not for long).
What a powerful and insightful assessment Gool, you have tightly expressed the reasons that children have forgiveness in their hearts, and I too think sometimes we can learn from our children as much as they tend to learn from us.
Thanks for sharing this fabulous piece.

Nancy Browne

Gabby said on November 14th at 8:32 pm:

Thanks Nancy for taking the time to visit and for your kind comment.

I know you to be a warm compassionate human being and I know how proud your children are of you to have you as their mom.

Greetings, this is a genuinely absorbing web blog and I have cherished studying many of the content and posts contained on the web site, keep up the outstanding work and desire to read a good deal more stimulating articles in the future.

Greetings, this is really a genuinely absorbing web blog and I’ve cherished learning many of your content and posts contained around the Internet site, keep up the exceptional do the job and wish to go through a good deal more stimulating posts inside the long term.